The economic downturn being experienced by the Indian economy is bottoming out. The political and economic

leadership is reposing its trust in the potential of corporate India as well as the locked value in our state owned enterprises (maharatnas, navratnas and miniratnas). “India is on its way to regain its glory of 7-8 percent GDP growth and nothing can stop the Indian economy from becoming the 3rd or 4th largest in GDP terms soon,” said P Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister, while delivering the Special Address on the occasion of Skoch Renaissance Awards for Corporate Leadership and Corporate Citizenship.

It was not merely a simple event, but a congregation of India’s best, in terms of corporate leadership, business excellence, business innovation, human resource development, economic

corporate social responsibility from state-owned enterprises, private and public sector players from banks, insurance, pensions, education, markets, NBFCs, and community based organisations. The best practices and projects led by these revolutionaries were conferred the Skoch Award – the highest independently instituted civilian honour that salutes people, projects, and institutions which went an extra mile in making India better.

When Skoch instituted the awards

CORPORATE ROLE IN NATION BUILDING

Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC India receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

Anuj Agarwal, CEO & Managing Director, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance receiving SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Insurance

C S Verma, Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Leadership

Lalit Gupta, MD & CEO, Essar Oil receiving SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Environment & HRD

Uma Swaminathan, MD, SEWA Gram Mahila Haat received SKOCH Renaissance Gold Award for Livelihood

Gauranga Das, Director, Govardhan Eco Village received SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Water Conservation

of “what changed” with absolute scores – without making comparisons of any sort. While jury marks each of these projects, even the peer group of the nominees is invited to evaluate each project and mark these accordingly. The top-scoring projects make it to the Skoch Order-of-Merit. A shortlist of awardees is drawn from the Order-of-Merit recipients who are invited to receive the Skoch Award in an exclusive awards function, which is presided over by a distinguished dignitary.

No industry or government support and endorsement is either accepted or expected for the Skoch Awards and they remain independently instituted and conferred as a third party’s perspective. The Skoch Award has truly become the national benchmark in recognising the best in serving citizens, innovations, improving businesses, service delivery and enhancing productivity.

While the Skoch Awards were conferred by P Chidambaram, Hon’ble Finance Minister; Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission gave away the citation and U K Sinha, Chairman, SEBI handed over the plaque, in presence of over 250 dignitaries who gathered from across the country to cheer the achievements.

The Roll of Honour of Skoch Awards over the years, is a testimony to this. Skoch Awards not only acknowledge exceptional achievers, but also spur inspirational guidance and motivational leadership.

Financial inclusionLok Advisory Services

Lok Advisory Services promotes inclusive growth by supporting the development

of social enterprises to deliver basic services to serve the bottom of pyramid segment in a scalable, affordable and commercially viable manner. It works through two funds – Lok Fund I and Lok Fund II. The former focuses on developing the

has a broader investment remit,

inclusion, healthcare, education and in employability solutions. It has invested in businesses like Basix, Janalakshmi, Rural Shores, Drishti, Suryodaya and Spandana, which are all shining examples in their respective sectors. These companies have over 8 million customers across 25 states in India, with over 84 per cent of them being women. These companies employ 16,000 employees - 20 per cent of

inclusion portfolio, these companies have disbursed `350 billion of loans since inception serving the bottom of the pyramid.

Rajiv B Lall, Lok Advisory Services received SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Financial Inclusion

PLATINUMBajaj Allianz Life Insurance - InsuranceGovardhan Eco Village - Water ConservationGVK - EMRI - HealthIndian Oil Corporation - MobilityLok Advisory Services - Financial InclusionNational Stock Exchange - Leadership

GOLDAISECT - EducationBSE Limited - Risk ManagementCanara Bank - BankingContainer Corporation of India - ServicesEssar Oil Limited - Environment, HRDHindustan Copper Limited - TurnaroundHSBC India - CSRIDBI Bank Ltd - ICTLIC of India - CRMMahindra Rural Housing Finance - HousingNPCI - Payment SystemsSBI Pension Fund - PensionsSEWA Gram Mahila Haat - LivelihoodShriram City Union Finance - FinanceState Bank of India - ExcellenceSteel Authority of India Limited - LeadershipUCO Bank - DevelopmentUnited India Insurance - Innovation

nominees. Eleven years hence, the situation has dramatically changed with Skoch Renaissance Awards 2013 conferring 6 platinum and 18 gold awards in 24 diverse categories ranging from corporate leadership, corporate citizenship to business excellence. Out of hundreds of such nominations received, the awards secretariat, after initial screening and secondary research process spanning nearly 800 manhours, selected 100 well-performing projects that were invited to make a presentation to the jury consisting of domain experts. The presentations to

manhours of effort, left 47 top projects to be conferred the Skoch Order-of-Merit. Each of the submissions was outstanding, decidedly reiterating that India is on the super-highway, speeding towards growth and development.

Coveted for their independence and exceptional research, Skoch Award is distinctive for its approach in selection of awardees. The Skoch Award is known to follow the most rigorous process of selection. Nominations found to be complete in all respects are put through secondary research by the Awards Secretariat. These, are then recommended to the Awards Committee for further evaluation. Only those approved by the Awards Committee are invited to make a presentation to the jury, which evaluates each project on its merits

Rajiv B Lall, Lok Advisory Services receiving SKOCH Renaissance Platinum Award for Financial Inclusion from P Chidambaram, Union Finance Minister. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission gave away the citation and U K Sinha, Chairman, SEBI gave away the plaque. Sameer Kochhar, Chairman, represented SKOCH Group

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2013